Artificial casting bait



T. J. CARTER ARTIFICIAL CASTING BAIT Filed A rii .s 1919 awnboz I Z Z Z .gzm farel; I

' to which are ner at the/bottom and at the tail a'series of Patented Feb. 12,1924.

.UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TEoMAs a. CARTER, or INnIAnAPoLIs, INDIANA, AssIeNoaTo CARTERS IBESTEVER BAIT COMPANY, or INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA,. A CORPORATION or INDIANA.

ARTIIIcI I. CASTING BAIT.

Applicationgjflled April 3, 1919. Serial No. 287,207.

' It is the object of my invention to provide an artificial casting bait which when drawn through the water will travel below the surface of the water in asrtbstantially levelposition and with a wiggling movement closely resembling that of a realiminnow; and to obtain this action by controlling surfabes which may be formed on .a single piece of wood from which the whole bait is made.

In obtainingthis result, I .provide a bait which in its preferred form has a general cigar-shaped neckless body provided with a head in which there is an 0 en mouth having upper and lower ja s t e rear ends of whichare joined by an upright wall; the

lower jaw protrudes forward and downard beyond the upper jaw and may have its upper surface transversely concave, while the under-surface of the upper jaw is preferably plane and lies substantially on the axis of the ait. The lower jaw makes the bait travel. below the surface of the water; the upper surface of the lower jaw givesthe'wiggling movement of the bait as it is drawn throu h the water; the upper jaw holds the bait su stantially level; and the rear wall of the there is a headportionhaving an upper jaw 12 and a lower jaw 13, which are spaced apart, separated at the sidesto form an open mouth 14. The rear of the mouth 14 is formed by a substantially vertical wall'15 which connects the adjacent surfaces of the jaws 12 and 13;v and in this rear wall 15 is a screw-eye'16 for the attachment of the line17. r

The upper jaw 12 has a substantially plane under surface 18, which is substantially horizontal when the bait is in use and which lies on the axis 19 of the bait. The lower jaw 13 protrudes forward beyond the front end of the upper jaw 12, and also projects obliquely downward so that both its upper and lower surfaces are inclined down-- ward toward the frontand converge to meet substantially at the front edge of the jaw. The upper surface 20-"of the lower jaw 13 is shown as concave transversely, to give ample room for inserting the screw-eye 16, as is clear from Figs. 1 and 2, as well as being inolind downward'and forward. These surmouth gives a slight,water resistance, thoughX Although thebait is lighter than water, so

not one noticeable to the fisherman or sufiithat it floats when at rest, it travels below the head. and the lateral deflection of the water from the open mouth:---

-- The bait is conveniently, made of piece of wood, wi 11,-. a ci ar-shaped body 10 ched i any suitable manhooks 11. This body 10 is in general cigarshaped. At the front end of the body 10,- and without a contraction or neck between,

a single 'bles that of a live minnow. This is dueto the head construction with the open mouth,,

As the bait is drawn through the water, the

action of the water on the lower jaw pulls the bait down below the surface. This action is due to .both the lower and upper surfaces for the forwardly and downwardly inclined upward surface -20 acts with an inclined plane action to fprce' the bait downward, and the forwardly and downwardly .inclined under surface of the lower jaw 13 loa creates a slight suction behind the lower 1 jaw, thus also tending ward. The action 0 the water against this to'pull the bait down- 1 under surface of the upper jaw 12, how- 10 ever, resists this downward "movement and creates a force component winch by its upward action on the head forces the tail down- Ward to maintain the bait substantially in a level position. This level position is thus largely due to the open mouth, though the upward-component of the pull of the line 17 also assists inholding. the bait level.

The rear wall of the mouth acts as a slight water rosistance,-though not sufficient .mentseems -toincrease the minnow-like ap pearance of themjdv'ement of the bait. The rearwall 15 also assists in, maintaining the bait level, since it reeeivestheimpact of the Water caught in the open mouth-and (le-.

flected upward by the surface 20. ,The

upper surface 20 of the lower jaw 13, proba-- ,bly assisted by the rear wall 15 of the open mouth, probably gives the baitlthe transverse Wiggle, so that its head will travel along a laterally sinuous path 21 (Fig. 3) this transverse wiggling movement of the bait is about a vertical axis within the bait body," so that the tail of 'the bait in its transverse movements is at most times moving oppositely. to .the head, but the: body seems actually to bend, and so produces a total movement deceptively similar to the wiggle of a live'minnow as it travels through the water, instead of being a series of relatively long darts alternately to. opposite sides of ,the general direction of movement as is the casewith many castingbaits.

I claim as my invention: 1. An artificial "casting bait, comprising a body portion having a head formed wlth spaced upper and lower jaws which are I separated at the sides and the adjacentsurfaces of which are connected at the rear by a substantial upright ,wall, said lower jaw protruding forward beyond the upper jaw and being inclined forward and downward.-

2. An artific al casting bait, comprising a body portion haying a head formed with spaced upper and lower =jaws separated at the sides, said lower jaw protruding forward beyond the upperjawand being inclined forward and downward.

-An. artificial casting bait, comprising a body portion having ahead formed with spaced upper and lower jawsyseparated at the sides, both the. upper and lower surfaces of the lower jaw being inclined forward and downward and the lower.ja\v protruding forward beyond the upper jaw.

4. An artificial casting bait, comprising a body portion having ahead-formed with spaced upper and lower jawssep'arated at the sides, the upper surfaceof the lower jaw being inclined forward and downward and being transversely concave and the lower jaw protruding forward'beyond theupper aw.

body portion hav i nga head formed with spaced .upper and lower jawsseparated at the sides, the under surface of the upper jaw being substantially plane and horizontal i 5. An artificial casting bait,'comprising al and the-lower jaw protruding forward beyond the upper jaw and having'its upper surface inclined forward and downward-.J

6. An artificial casting bait, comprisinga body portion (having a head formed with spaced upper and lower jaws separated at the sides, said lower jaw protruding forward beyond the upper jaw and having a forwardly and downwardly inclined upper surface, said upper jawlhaving a substantially horizontal under surface, and the adjacent surfaces of the two, jaws being joined by a substantially upright wall-at their rear ends. 7

In witness whereof, I have h reunto set my hand at Indianapolis, Indiana, this first day of April, A. D. one thousand nine hundred and nineteen.

I THOMAS J. CA T R. 

